People who were against the fighting between Israel and Hamas were taking down their tents at Harvard Yard. This happened because the university agreed to talk to them about their concerns, which ended the protests peacefully. Other protests at different universities were stopped by the police.
The group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said they no longer needed to stay in their camp, and the university president agreed to talk to them about their concerns.
Many college students this spring made camps to ask their schools to end connections with Israel and companies that support it.
The most recent war between Israel and Hamas started when Hamas and other fighters attacked southern Israel on October 7. They killed about 1,200 people and took 250 more as hostages. Palestinian fighters have around 100 prisoners and Israel’s army has killed over 35,000 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. They don’t separate between civilians and fighters.
Harvard’s president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Hopi Hoekstra, are going to talk with the protesters about the fighting in the Middle East.
The protesters said they made a plan to talk to the people in charge of Harvard University, including the Harvard Management Company. This company manages the university’s money, which is around US$50 billion.
The protesters said that the students will plan to talk about disclosure, divestment, reinvestment, and make a Center for Palestine Studies. The students also said that Harvard has offered to cancel suspensions for over 20 students and student workers and reduce punishments for 60 more.
“A person speaking for the protesters said that in the past three weeks, the encampment has grown and strengthened support for Palestine on campus. ” “It has made a difference in how much information is shared and assets are sold at Harvard. “